Reality Playings, August 22, 2009

experiments in experience/participation performance

Recorded at Temescal Art Center, Oakland, California.

Oh, we here are hurting, are recovering from weeks of multiple shows! Just this past week, we did three SHAMAN’S DEN shows and Friday at the new performance space Flux 53 in Oakland for the Los Angeles band Magick Orchids I was a guest vocalist. Btw, Flux 53 is a great theater (actually two performance spaces)… But bring your own P. A.!

Then Saturday was another REALITY PLAYINGS. It is building, digging in to the meat. Actually the performance started for some of the audience members before they got to the Temescal. Of course this is always true, but is usually hidden. But THE TRAVELING CLUBHOUSE contacted me a couple of weeks ago about bringing one of their groups to the performance as a part of a day long guided tour of challenging adventures. Moreover they asked me to give them a pre- performance ritual to prepare them. I told them to randomly pair up the people before going to dinner. The people in the pairs would feed each other. I thought this might be the last I would hear from them. But if they did do this ritual, it would open everything up. And by God they did it, and it did open everything up for everybody. It is amazing we are attracting people like THE TRAVELING CLUBHOUSE who value being stretched even if it is uncomfortable. And they were not alone. We had a room full of people who came to go deep and have developed abilities that allow them to risk. It feels like we are only beginning to tap into a deep vein of potentials! Of course we have only been doing this for over forty years. Moreover the six of us create a personal base which allows us to call upon our intimacy together… And Erika being there adds something. Tomek and Kene-J have developed trance quivering flesh music which allows us to slip into unknown freedom which can feel scary. And people like Unrulee and Michael the street mayor of Berkeley who have come to my performances for years add a calm to the mixture, not to mention a knowing humor! And now people are coming who have an understanding of what is occurring under the surface level because of their own personal work, such as gal*in_dog [the POW POW guy] who is a performance artist and teacher. We are creating a powerful nexus of expanding erotic zones of an underground community building subversion!

Stay tuned! Better yet, come to the next performance! 

Photos and more: http://eroplay.com/Cave/reality_playings/reality_playings_aug09/index.html